I’m a day late with this post because I spent all day yesterday asleep with the flu feeling sorry for myself. That’s what I get for having a lovely weekend away! Today’s post is a different kind of blog hop. I’ve never done one of these before, and I was delighted when my friend Chiaki from Chiaki Creates invited me. I loved reading her thoughts on her happy, colourful, retro inspired work – check out her post here! The hop involves talking about my creative process, and linking to a couple of my favourite creative bloggers. I think this is going to be fun.

What am I working on?

As with every week, I’m spending a lot of time sewing and upcycling clothes for my Etsy shop! I’ve picked up a couple of vintage pieces that I’m really excited about, and I’m also adding to my range of colourful, patterned two pieces! Because I’ve been sewing a lot for my shop recently, I haven’t had the time to do much sewing-for-me. I won this yellow checked fabric in a blog giveaway in January, and hopefully this week I will finally sew it up into a pair of yellow dungarees. Watch this space!

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I try to live a lifestyle that is both ethical and environmentally friendly, and it’s also something that I keep in mind when I create things. Before I even knew what I wanted to sell in my etsy shop, I knew that it had to be ethical and sustainable. Although I’m pleased with how the clothes have turned out, this has definitely been a hurdle! I know what sort of fabrics I want to work with, but I can’t just search online for them because new fabrics are either way out of my budget or not made ethically and sustainably. Instead, I have to hunt down good quality second hand fabrics which, although a lot of fun, is not a very reliable way of sourcing materials. The majority of the DIYs I feature on my blog also have an environmentally-friendly element to them, and I only share vegan recipes for similar reasons.

The other thing that hopefully makes my work stand out is pattern and colour. I don’t think it’s possible for something to be too colourful, or too patterned and this influences everything that I make – the clothes in my shop, the things I make on the blog, and the clothes I wear every day!

Why do I create what I do?

I guess I’ve always liked to create things. As a little girl, I loved finger painting, baking and making mud pies (perhaps just because I liked making a mess… sorry mum!) When I took art for GCSE and then for A Level it became my favourite subject. I think it helped my awkward schoolgirl self come out of her shell. When you make something, you can’t help but to express some part of yourself, your thoughts or ideas. I remember finding that terrifying, but I had to let go of that fear to make the art that I wanted to make. Once I got over myself, and learnt to care less about what other people thought about what I made (and consequently, what they thought of me) that was extremely liberating. At school, I always made things. I made a flower chair, a dripping hat stand, a leftover picnic, and a shed out of rubbish, to name a few. Drawing and painting has never been my thing. When I went to University, I wanted to continue to make things in my spare time, but I didn’t really know how. I couldn’t make a 6ft by 6ft shed from river rubbish in a weekend, and besides, I had nowhere to put it. That’s when I started sewing again and decided to start a craft blog. It gave me a reason to make things, and having a blog schedule gave me a way of organising my projects. I am so much happier when I’m making things!

How does my creating process work?

I get a lot of inspiration from daily life. I’ll see something in someone’s house, a blog, a magazine or a shop and try to recreate it in my own way. I always take a dive-in-at-the-deep-end approach. I’m impatient and I’d rather learn by doing than spend a lot of time researching and preparing. This means that projects don’t always go to plan, but most of the time they do!

Now I’d like to share with you a couple of my favourite creative blogs! Laila and Kati will be sharing a post about their creative process next week, and I can’t wait!

Laila from Tape Parade is a London based blogger who writes about her adventures, what she wears, her creative endeavours and her thoughts on life! She directs Wolf Pack, a contemporary music collective, and is a part of too many other musical endeavours to list here! Laila is a vegan, and like me, tries to be a conscientious consumer. I love the very honest approach she has towards blogging, and she is just as awesome in real life as she is online! I can’t wait to read more about the workings of her beautiful, creative mind.

Katie from Almost Stylish is a Berlin based blogger who shares creative DIYs, colourful outfit posts and the most beautiful photography. She also runs the shop Shop Katinka. I love her gorgeous ginger hair, and the ingenious simplicity of everything she makes! I am so looking forward to learning about Kati’s creative process.

I totally agree that nothing can be too colorful! I love seeing your creative process. I’ve had a couple pieces laying around that I’ve wanted to upcycle and you just gave me the bit of inspiration that I needed to get on the move with it

Hey jess, aw thanks for sharing never heard of blog hop before. Lovely to hear about your creative processes, im going to pop over to katie and laila blogs too. is that a kimino you have made in the picture above its stunning!xxxx

Hello there! Nice to meet you, I'm Jess. Twenty-four. Edinburgh. Tree hugger. Obsessed with Halloween. I like elephants and bell bottoms and my bunny rabbit Archie. You can usually find me in the pub, watching Buffy, hunting down vegan junk food or crocheting on the sofa.